These Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Thighs are a great alternative to traditional frying! They are easy to make and don’t forget to add the honey mustard sauce!
**Originally published October 2015**
Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Thighs
My husband is always asking for fried chicken, always. Like every time I ask what sounds good for supper, he gives me the same answer. (I really don’t know why I even ask.)
While I do like fried chicken I don’t like the amount of work that it requires and the mess it can make.
Plus, it isn’t the healthiest meal to eat on a regular basis.
That’s why I like to oven “fry” my chicken. It’s less mess and it’s a healthier option.
Oven Fried Chicken
Normally I just coat the chicken in seasoned flour and bake it, which is really good, but I miss that thicker breading and crunch you get when you traditionally fry chicken.
You know what I mean??
I had to do an updated version of these crispy oven fried chicken thighs.
For one, the pictures were horrible and two I have changed the recipe over time and wanted to share those changes with you.
Plus, I made a super yummy honey mustard sauce to drizzle over the top.
Completely optional, but totally delicious!!
Easy Oven Fried Chicken
It’s also an easier version. The original required marinating in buttermilk for an extended length of time and while it did make for really tender and tasty chicken, I never remembered to do it, so that step went out the window.
Chances are if I am too busy to do this step many of you probably are too.
I also swapped out the panko breadcrumbs for cornflakes (my secret ingredient) on a whim one evening.
I thought I had breadcrumbs in the pantry and didn’t. But instead a half empty box of cornflakes that needed to be used up.
That is classic me right there!! I always start a recipe without checking to make sure I have everything!
What to serve with these Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Thighs:
- Skillet Garlic Green Beans
- a simple side salad made with Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
- Easiest Mashed Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes
- Bacon Mashed Potatoes
- Old Fashioned Potato Salad
- Creamy Key Lime Fruit Salad
- Creamy Coleslaw
- And for dessert:
These Crispy Oven Fried Chicken Thighs are a great alternative to traditional frying! They are easy to make and don't forget to add the honey mustard sauce!
- 6 bone in skin on chicken thighs
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- Season salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon of each: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1½ cups finely crushed cornflakes (I like to do this by placing in a resealable plastic bag and using a rolling pin to crush)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
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In a shallow dish combine the flour, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika. In a second shallow dish combine the eggs and milk. In a third shallow dish combine the crushed cornflakes and olive oil.
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Dredge one chicken thigh in the flour mixture coating all sides. Dip into the egg wash coating all sides. Dredge in the cornflake mixture coating all sides. Place on a large baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken thighs. Bake for 45 minutes or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
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OPTIONAL HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE: In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, honey and dijon mustard.
- If using a food processor to make your cornflake crumbs be careful not to process too fine.
- Panko breadcrumbs can be substituted for the cornflakes.
- Chicken can be soaked in buttermilk overnight.
- Can use cut up chicken pieces as well.
- Nutrition Facts: Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the information shown is just an estimate. Nutrtion includes 1/6th of the honey mustard sauce.
For my seasonings, I used smoked paprika, poultry seasoning blend, salt and black pepper. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly, and the chicken turned out perfectly. I want to try the recipe with boneless, skinless breasts. I usually cook breasts at 450 for 35 minutes. Do you think this would work at 35 minutes at 425 if I flatten out the fattest part of the breast as best I can, something I don’t usually bother doing? Thanks for the great recipe.
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner!! I feel 35 min at 425 would be too long as chicken breasts can dry out really quickly. Try 18-20 minutes first. Thanks for sharing and so glad you liked the chicken thighs!
easy fried chicken rocks!!
I couldn’t agree more!! Thanks!
What? no oven temp in recipe description
I’m having a difficult time understanding why mediocre recipes keep getting 5 Stars. Seriously, I consider myself a pretty good cook and this recipe had virtually no flavor. I’m at a loss and need to find a seriously good recipe site. These 5 Star recipes have fooled me for the last time.
Thank you for your comment and I am sorry these disappointed you. But with any recipe whether online or in a cookbook one must adapt them to their own tastebuds especially if one is already a good cook and knows what flavors they like.
This has become a staple for dinner on busy nights. It’s so easy and doesn’t take very long in my air fryer. Needed to crush a lot more cornflakes to give my boneless chicken thigh pieces a nice coating. Baked them at 400C for 20 min and then flipped them over for another 5 min or so depending on the thickness of the thighs. Always delicious every time, even without the sauce! Thank you!
Thank you very much! And love that you converted it to use your air fryer!
Great, simple recipe! I used plain panko and the spices in the flour took good care of flavor! Looking forward in trying some of your additional recipes. YUM!
Thank you very much!! I really appreciate it!
Cornflakes are the way to go for oven-fried chicken. SO much crunch and texture — and stood up very well to being slathered in the sauce, which is delicious. Instead of putting the cornflakes on a plate, I just left them in the large ziploc bag I crushed them in (didn’t add any oil) and tossed the chicken thighs in the bag after putting them in the egg mixture. Got a really even, well stuck on coating and then just sprayed with cooking spray before going in the oven. I had a little bit of a bunch of mustards hanging out, so I used a combo of sweet onion & BBQ mustard for the sauce and it worked so well. I served with some roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes with onion, which cooked at the same temperature. And a broccoli caesar salad — starting to feel a lot like fall!
Thank you!! So glad you liked the chicken and those different mustards sound so good with the chicken too!! Thanks for sharing!
The calorie count seems too high. I get more like 250 Kcal/thigh. Is the difference due to the sauce?
Hi! I took a look at the calorie count and yes it was high. For some reason, the nutrition calculator I have been using is calculating everything higher. I used the nutrition calculator from Very Well Fit and corrected the label. Thank you for bringing my attention to it!